Fitbit Launches a New Smartwatch You’ll Actually Want to Wear All Day

The health and fitness tech brand announces the launch of Fitbit Versa and introduces a new feature specifically for women.

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A look at the family of Fibit Versa smartwatches. Photograph courtesy of Fitbit

About six months ago, Fitbit unveiled the Ionic, its first-ever advanced smartwatch built on its own operating system. While the Ionic is capable for tracking health and fitness activities, including cycling, some users complained about the size. It could feel large on small wrists, and its design resembled a large, first-generation GPS watch, even when you added sleek accessories like leather bands.

In other words, the Ionic is something you’d wear for a workout, but probably not during any other part of your day.

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The items we review are selected by our editors without bias. If you choose to purchase them from one of our preferred partners, we earn an affiliate commission that supports our work.

Fitbit identified—and maybe even anticipated—this and quickly followed Ionic with the launch of Fitbit Versa, announced today. Versa is intended to be everything Ionic is not: a smartwatch for everyone at any fitness level.

Compared to the Ionic, Versa’s “squircle” screen—while suspiciously similar to another popular smartwatch on the market—is smaller, sleeker, and better suited to be worn all day. The case is made of a thin, lightweight aluminum (it’s so light, we barely remembered we were wearing it during the demo workout) and will be available in three finishes: graphite, platinum, and rose gold.

Mix and match your accessories to make the Fitbit Versa truly unique. Photograph courtesy of Fitbit

With the Versa, Fitbit also put women first—a not-so-common move in tech products. According to Fitbit, 40 percent of smartwatch users are female. So the brand conducted focus groups and analyzed research to create a program for all adult Fitbit users who identify as female.

Along with the Versa, Fitbit is announcing the launch of new female health tracking. This feature allows users to easily record their menstrual cycle and symptoms, see cycle predictions at a glance, and join other women in the community for support around topics such as birth control, conception, pregnancy, menopause, and other topics. Fitbit believes having this information at your fingertips can empower women with knowledge, help them communicate more effectively with their doctors, and benefit athletes with cycle predictions and symptom tracking—handy when planning out a training schedule.

A look at the health calendar on iOS, which is designed specifically for women. Photograph courtesy of Fitbit

You can still expect Versa to track all of your basic health and fitness stats such as steps, heart rate, and calories. It also offers advanced features such as connected GPS tracking (through your smartphone), onscreen workouts via the Fitbit Coach app, swim tracking with water resistance up to 50 meters, sleep stage tracking, on-device music including partnerships with Pandora and Deezer, and card-free payments (on the Special Edition).

And it does all this with a battery life of up to four days. The longer you wear Versa and the more information you log into it, the more personalized its communication with you (think: reminders, celebrations, or prompts to take action) becomes over time.

Custom clock faces and a variety of bands are available in leather, stainless steel links, sport silicone, and metal mesh. With a price ($195.95) that undercuts comparable watches on the market, and a platform that’s compatible with Apple, Google, and Microsoft, it seems this watch will be more appealing to a wider range of people.

Additional leather bands make the Versa more of a smartwatch you may want to wear all day, instead of just for working out. Photograph courtesy of Fitbit

That said, notifications and quick replies—an important feature for most smartwatch users—are only available for Android. Despite more than 550 apps, the Fitbit OS is still playing catch up with Apple and Google.

Fitbit’s goal with Versa was to “return to [its] roots to make fitness fun and accessible for everyone.” At first look and with price alone, they’ve certainly created a capable, stylish watch at a competitive price point.

Photograph courtesy of Fitbit

For a more in-depth take that examines the best features for cyclists, stay tuned for our full review coming soon. Versa will be available for presale today on fitbit.com for $195.95, with retail availability starting in April 2018.

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